New Mobile Website Company Aims To Stop UK Small Businesses Losing Out To Latest Search Trends

Half of internet searches are now made on mobile phones, but only 4% of local businesses in the UK have mobile friendly websites. Business consultant Tony Woolfson offers cost-effective mobile solutions to help local providers boost their profits.

Almost half of all internet searches are now made on mobile phones and this proportion is steadily increasing. Google themselves have forecast that in this year 2013 more people will use their mobile phones than PCs to get online.

Business consultant Tony Woolfson of Small Business Support Services UK (www.smallbusinesssupportservicesuk.co.uk) has found that only 4% of local businesses in the UK have websites that display well on phone screens. He was so concerned how much small businesses owners are losing out because of this that he’s set up a unique new venture, producing affordable effective mobile friendly websites to help them benefit from this growing trend in internet search.

As more and more people use mobile devices to access and search the Internet, having a mobile friendly website has become the key to successful online publicity.

Many small business owners providing local services have already realised that the Internet has become a vital part of their marketing and now have a website. However in the UK very few appear to have got to grips with the fact that the vital information needed by potential customers may not be easy to find when viewed on a smartphone.

Taking a sample of over 100 local service business websites, Dr Tony Woolfson found that it took an average of 1.2 minutes to find the contact phone number or email on a mobile phone. By the time he had written down the number, entered it into the phone and was ready to call, it was over two minutes from finding the site before the business could be contacted.

This is far longer than most website visitors are prepared to stay on one site. In other studies it has been found that 61% of customers finding themselves in this situation are likely to go to a competitor’s site within 30 seconds.
“I simply could not believe how difficult it was to contact most of the businesses that people might be looking for,”says Dr Woolfson “and how many new customers and sales these local businesses could be losing every day.”
He then made some simple example sites for different types of local businesses designed specifically for mobile phones. With an introductory sentence and a “Tap to call” button on the Home page, he slashed the time it took to call the business to less than 15 seconds.

Having realised how much difference having a mobile friendly site would make to local businesses he launched Ace Mobile Sites (www.acemobilesites.co.uk) in December 2012. “This is a very exciting development.” says Dr Woolfson. “I believe that small businesses will play an increasingly important role in the economy, and I can use all my experience in marketing and functional website design to help a lot of people to get through the recession.”